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ADDRESSES OF COMMANDERS 

AT 

ANNUAL BANQUETS 

OF THE 

COMMANDERY OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN. 

MILITARY ORDER OF THE 

LOYAL LEGION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES, 

AT 

DETROIT, MICH. 



Detroit, Mich.: 

WINN & HAMMOND, PRINTERS. 

1893. 



/ 



Gift 
Author 

18JP05 



INTRODUCTORY. 



At the Annual Banquet of the Michigan Commandery 
of the Loyal Legion, at the Russell House, 
^ . Detroit, May 5, 1886. 



By COMPANION ORLANDO M. POE, 
Brevet Brigadier General, U. S. Army, Commander. 



" When the oldest cask is opened, 

And the largest lamp is lit ; 
When the Chestnuts glow in the embers, 

And the Kid turns on the spit ; 
When young and old in circle 

Around the firebrands close ; 
When the girls are weaving baskets 

And the lads are shaping bows." 

" When the goodman mends his armor, 

And trims his helmet's plume ; 
When the good wife's shuttle merrily 

Goes flashing through the loom ; 
With weeping and with laughter 

Still is the story told, 
How well Horatius kept the bridge 

In the brave days of old." 

The traditions of martial glory "in the brave days of old," 
were kept alive in the home circle, amidst the ordinary 
avocations, and their recital stimulated emulation amongst 



the younger folk. Somehow it has become customary to 
extend the circle, and to celebrate the memory of deeds of 
valor by eating, drinking and speech making. 

In former times war was the only honorable profession 
outside of mother church. We live in a time when the 
honorable pursuits are not so limited, but none the less we 
revere the church and grow enthusiastic over the stories of 
feats of arms. Although we no longer mend our armor, and 
the trimming of helmet plumes is relegated to younger men, 
it is proper that we, a small portion of the survivors of the 
greatest conflict the world has ever seen, whilst not especially 
straining our relations with the church, should occasionally 
meet together to renew the memories of the camp and battle, 
and if wte prove to be somewhat noisy in our demonstrations, 
it is only because our blood is w^armed to youthful heat by 
the recollections which crowd upon us. 

In the responses which are to follow, it is not improbable 
that we may recognize some "Chestnuts." If so, you will 
doubtless good-humoredly assist in drawing them from the 
embers, and seem to relish them as greatly as if they w r ere 
not a little "wormy." As we listen to the unprepared bursts 
of eloquence now snugly reposing in the coat pockets of those 
who are to reply to the toasts, you will see that you are not 
alone to be banqueted upon hard-tack and — its acompani- 
ment. It is proposed to give you something more palatable 
and more headachy. The "feast of reason and the flow of 
soul" will lie around loose, and will contribute to the head 
trouble. The viands will be guiltless. Notwithstanding the 
heaviness of the speeches to which you will be compelled to 
listen, now that we have you securely here, I beg you will 
give your undivided attention to the speakers, and award 
them that measure of applause which they crave. Even if 
you do not subscribe to every sentiment, sprinkle in the 
tremendous applause after the manner of the public printer 



in the speeches of the Members of Congress as they appear in 
that hilarious publication, the Congressional Record. It 
will do you no harm, and will encourage the orators. 
Remember how badly they fee], and the great embarrassment 
under which they labor. 

We have no kids turning on the spit, but some of us have 
"kids" at home, whose juvenile ears we kindly fill with 
tales of what we did "in the war." What an appreciative 
audience the little folks make, and how unquestioningiy they 
place us in the front rank of heroes. The strategy of 
Hannibal, the stern fighting of Frederick, the cunning of 
Marlborough were as nothing compared with the way their 
fathers fought and overcame the rebels. They learn what a 
glorious privilege it will be to inherit, through us, first-class 
membership in the Loyal Legion and to partake of future 
banquets. Long may it be before they come into their 
heritage. Meanwhile they will have to be satisfied with 
membership of the second class, and practice the virtue of 
longing and waiting. 

The customs have greatly changed since the days of 
Horatius. It is the lads who now weave baskets, shingles 
etc., in their moments of leisure from weary cigarettes and 
beer, whilst the girls devote their attention to the catching 
and shaping of beans, trusting to the milliners for their bows 
and other furbelows. Our goodwi Tr es, too, no longer waste 
their energies at the loom, yet Companions Smith and Curtiss 
can tell you how " Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
like one of these." This shows how wonderfully our 
civilization has advanced beyond that of the Romans. 

It may be asked what are we here for, anyhow. In the 
earlier days of my membership in the Loyal Legion, an 
anxious inquirer desired to know what was the object of our 
Order. I told him it was to meet occasionally and ' ' swop 
lies." I am better informed now, and am satisfied that a 



searcher for the lies must go to the Official Record of the 
War of the Rebellion. In this assemblage will be heard 
nothing but the truth. If any body doubts it we will all 
swear. 

After the speeches shall have been delivered, let us 
indulge in reminiscences of the days when the ear piercing 
fife, the rattling drum, and sometimes the blaring trumpet 
("Chestnuts,") awoke us from our slumbers, and set us to 
wondering what fiend invented reveille. If there be a deeper 
depth of damnation, it is reserved for that devil who invented 
this torture. In case of another war the opposing armies 
should strike against the reveille, and by arbitration arrange 
for its abolition, probably by declaring a truce between the 
hours of sunset and 10 a. m. next day, (standard time), 
during which no movement should be made, and no military 
duty be performed. It would notably ameliorate the horrors 
of war. This suggestion is not patented, and as there is no 
"job" in it, the digression will perhaps be pardoned. 

There are many interesting memories stored away in the 
pigeon-holes of your minds. Pull out the drawers and 
overhaul the records, set your tongues to wagging, but don't 
all talk at once. Give the other fellow a chance to tell how 
he saved the day at Gettysburg, or how he and Grant 
captured Lee, or how contemptible it was in Sherman to steal 
from him his plan for the ' ' March to the Sea. ' ' It would be 
cruel to deprive him of the pleasure, and it would be selfish 
in you to monopolize the conversation. 

The story of the war will never grow stale, 

" When the oldest cask is opened, 
And the largest lamp is lit ; 
# # # # 

With weeping and with laughter, 
Still is the story told." 



And as our hearts warm up with the good cheer before 
us, and the glistening eye but reflects the gleam of its 
neighbor, there is little danger that our thoughts will become 
prosaic, or that the current of our feelings will run in too 
stagnant a stream. Let us drink deeply of the draught of 
pleasure in each other's company, — again feel the magnetic 
touch of our comrade's elbow. 

But let our laughter "and merriment be mingled Avith 
sadness as we remember those who went with us to battle, 
never to return. 

" They lie at rest, our blessed dead ; 

The dew drops cool above their head." 

Our hearts are wrung with sorrow at the memory of their 
fate, but swell too, with pride at the recollection of their 
patriotism and knightly gallantry. Our tears bedew their 
graves, whilst history records their exploits for the admiration 
of posterity. 

In all this we are doing right, and continuing it from year 
to year as we move on to our end, we may feel well assured 
that we are laying, broad and deep, the foundations of 
patriotism amongst our descendants, and that our beloved 
country will find them as ready to do and die for her in her 
time of need as we were in the "brave days of old " 

God save the United States ! 



INTRODUCTORY 



At the Annual Banquet of the Michigan Commandery 

of the Loyal Legion, at the Russell House, 

Detroit, June i, 1887. 



By COMPANION ORLANDO M. POE, 
Brevet Brigadier General, U. S. Army, Commander. 



At our banquet last year a visiting companion related an 
anecdote which probably illustrates the popular notion of 
these gatherings of old soldiers. He stated that upon an 
occasion which called a large number of them together, a 
street arab remarked to his companion, that "them is the 
fellers what fit, and fit, and fit," whereupon the other replied, 
" Yes, and they haint got done a-blowin' about it yit." 

However much we may be inclined to blowin', in the 
aggregate, individually we are opposed to anything of t*he 
kind. 

The story of the whole life of any one man is seldom 
interesting, nor do we meet for any purpose of listening to 
such. So far as the members of the Loyal # Legion are con- 
cerned, our life's history is. concentrated in the four years 
covering the duration of the War of the Rebellion. That 
period, in point of time comprises but a comparatively small 
fraction of our lives, but in events it tells nearly all there is 
of interest attaching to a great majority of us. 



It is proper that we congregate from time to time to 
interchange our experiences in camp and held, in trench and 
assault, and, by a little effort, preserve for future reference 
the personal observations of our members. In a few years 
the last of us will have disappeared from earth forever, and 
such stories as Trowbridge, Duffield, Withington, Swift and 
Pittman have told us during the past year will have a value 
to our descendent successors that no laboriously compiled 
history by a non-participant can ever equal. These remi- 
niscences will stimulate those inheriting membership in our 
order to greater interest in the affairs of the Union saved by 
the very life-blood of their fathers, and arouse, in the highest 
degree, that patriotism which ennobles a people. Does any 
member of the Loyal Legion, who is such by virtue of his 
personal service, Hatter himself with the belief that his 
response to the call of his country in 1861, was more prompt 
or patriotic than will be that of his successor by inheritance ? 
If so, he can readily have his answer in the faces and bearing 
of the splendid young men whom he daily meets on our 
thoroughfares, and be disabused of any such conceit. 

Let us tell and tell again the story of Fort Sumpter, of 
Donelson, of the Peninsula, of Antietam, of Gettysburg, of 
Vicksburgh, of Chattanooga, of Knoxville, of Atlanta, of the 
Wilderness and Petersburgh, of the March to the Sea, the 
Campaign of the Carolina s. of Nashville, and of Appomatox, 
as well as of hundreds of other fields and campaigns where 
men died by the thousand in evidence that we have a Nation 
worth this supreme sacrifice. If our " of t told tale " results 
in greater love of country, in profounder respect for her 
constitution and laws— in forming a nucleus around which 
may rally, in time of National trial, all the patriotic elements 
of our people, — then indeed will our efforts have served their 
purpose. 



10 

Much has been written, said and published about the 
Rebellion. Generals are quarreling about this battle, and 
statesmen wrangling about the disposition made of that 
question, but all seem to forget that each, in his own sphere, 
only did his share of the work allotted him. Seldom does 
success or failure in the great events of nations depend upon 
one man, and our Civil War was no exception to the rule. 
Generals there were who were mighty men of war, — but there 
were others who were weaklings of their kind. Privates 
there were who were only fit for the "coffee-cooling'' station 
they so persistently filled, — but there were others who would 
have graced tlje double stars of the Major General. We 
know it was neither the weaklings nor the "coffee-coolers" 
who bore our glorious nag to its pinnacle of fame. Notwith- 
standing the graceful diction of the professional writer, 
illustrated by the highest skill of the engraver, there is more 
of downright truth, and therefore of historical value, 
preserved in the papers of the Loyal Legion than in a cart 
load of volumes made to glorify the writer or some pet 
subject of his. The story of the soldier, told in the presence 
of soldiers, is, and must be related in simple words, free 
from self-laudation, untruthfulness, and all other unright- 
eousness. No vague forms of expression nor confusion of 
words can conceal from such hearers misconduct or blunders. 
He tells a plain unvarnished tale. We are gratified by its 
clearness without being dazzled by any reflected light, and 
when it is completed we know what he has been talking 
about and believe what we have heard. 

Trowbridge has given a better and clearer account of the 
operations of the cavalry on the right, at Gettysburg, than 
has any other man thus far. It is most satisfactory because 
we know he was there, and we know the man. 

S. E. Pittman has given the clearest account of the opera- 
tions of Gen. A. S. Williams' command at Chancellorsville. 



11 

It is invaluable because we know he was there, and we know 
the man. 

H. M. Duffield has described a portion of the operations 
at Chicamauga. We have no difficulty in comprehending 
the story and mentally following all the movements with 
perfect confidence, for we know that he was there, and we 
know the man. 

And those of us who were present will remember the 
pathos of that story of prison life and return to the cover of 
the flag as told by Swift. The breathless silence, the 
moistened eye, the twitching face lines of his comrades truly 
showed how deeply they were in sympathy with him, and 
our love and reverence for the glorious stars and stripes were 
heightened as he recounted the emotions of himself and his 
fellow sufferers as they passed under its folds. 

The chapter which Withington has added to the history of 
the earliest movements in Michigan, and the organization and 
dispatch of her first troops to the seat of war is of inestimable 
value, and all Michigan men should be grateful to him for 
his labor. 

Companions, I have but little respect for the patriotism of 
any man whose blood does not bound with higher impulse ; 
whose nerves do not tingle with thrills of pride ; who does 
not glow with greater ardor at the recital of the glorious 
deeds of his country's defenders. I cannot believe that any 
considerable portion of our people would willingly have them 
forgotten. It is sometimes said that we should forgive and 
forget. The Loyal Legion will carry forgiveness to the very 
extreme, for that is incumbent upon the Christian gentleman, 
and distinguishes him from the unrelenting savage, but they 
will never forget. They are not made of the milk and water 
stuff that forms the pabulum of babes. Neither do we 
expect our opponents to forget their heroic deeds, nor to 
cease to tell of them. We only ask that in doing so they 



12 

will give us the same meed of praise that we give them, and 
that they will be as fair in their relation of events as we are. 
They were magnificent in war ; their prowess was worthy of 
our antagonism, out chief glory consists in having beaten 
them, and we do not intend to forget it. 

To the guests who have honored us by their presence, I 
beg to say that we meet in no vain-glorious spirit. Our 
object is to keep alive that feeling of comradeship which had 
its origin amid the stirring scenes of actual war, and to 
cultivate among the younger generations, upon whom the 
burden of future wars must fall, that sentiment of true 
loyalty to our country and its institutions which will carry it 
forward to "a fame that no tongue can be telling," and to 
the proudest place in the history of nations. 

It may not be amiss, in the presence of this distinguished 
company to publish the principles and objects of the Order 
as set forth in the language of our Constitution. 

The fundamental principles are : 

First. "A firm belief and trust in Almighty God; 
extolling Him under whose beneficent guidance the sover- 
eignty and integrity of the Union have been maintained, the 
honor of the flag vindicated, and the blessing of civil liberty 
secured, established and enlarged." 

Second. ' ' True allegiance to the United States of America, 
based upon paramount respect for and fidelity to the National 
Constitution and Laws, and manifested by discountenancing 
whatever may tend to weaken loyalty, to incite to insur- 
rection, treason or rebellion, or to impair in any manner the 
efficiency and permanency of our free institutions." 

The objects of the Order are "to cherish the memories 
and associations of the war waged in defense of the unity 
and indivisibility of the Republic; to strengthen the ties of 
fraternal fellowship and sympathy formed by companionship- 
in-arms; to advance the best interests of the soldiers and 



13 

sailors of the United States, especially of those associated as 
members of this Order, and to extend all possible relief to 
their widows and children ; to foster the cultivation of 
military and naval science ; to enforce unqualified allegiance 
to the general government ; to protect the rights and liberties 
of American citizenship, and to maintain National honor, 
union and independence." 

Gentlemen, upon such a platform of principles and objects 
we are prepared to expect the countenance and respect of 
every lover of his country, and claim for our Order the same 
degree of regard so freely bestowed upon our revered 
progenitor, the Order of the Cincinnati. 

For the further information of our guests I venture to 
give a short account of the organization and present condition 
of the Michigan Commandery. 

In mid-winter of 1885, at the suggestion of Col. H. M. 
Duffield, a meeting was called of the members of the Loyal 
Legion then residing in Detroit, with a view to the organiza- 
tion of a Commandery for the State of Michigan. At that 
meeting only live persons could be gathered, and after 
inquiry it was ascertained that only seven members were 
resident in the State. As thirteen was the minimum number 
that could be granted a charter, it was necessary to secure 
the requisite additional membership before anything further 
could be done. But little effort was needed, and when 
application was duly made for a charter, General Hancock, 
then Acting Commander-in-chief, promptly gave it his 
approval. At a stated meeting of the Acting Commandery - 
in-chief (the Commandery-in-chief was not organized until 
later), held in the City of Philadelphia, February 4, 1885, 
the charter was issued to 

Brevet Brigadier General, Orlando M. Poe, 

Of the Commandery of the District of Columbia. 

Brevet Brigadier General, Henry B. Clitz. 

Of the Commandery of the State of New York. 



14 

First Lieutenant Henry M. Duffield, 
Brevet Major General, Luther S. Trowbridge, 
Brevet Brioadiet General, John Gibson Parkhurst, 
Brevet Major General, Russell A. Alger, 

Of the Commandery of the State of Massachusetts. 

Surgeon, Sidney L. Fuller, 
Lieutenant, Fordyce H. Rogers. 
Brevet Brigadier General, John Pulford, 
Brevet Major Levi T. Griffin, 
Brevet Major James Biddle, 

Of the Commandery of the State of Wisconsin. 

Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, Robert Burns, 
Lieutenant, Deming Jarves, 

Of the Commandery of the State of Illinois. 

Just the requisite thirteen members. 

The permanent organization was effected in Detroit, April 
13, 1885, and has remained with little change as to its officers 
until the present time. 

Meanwhile our membership has grown to 139, and we 
have thus far had a career of remarkable prosperity. 

Having been the commander first elected, and having 
been twice re-elected, by a unanimous vote on each occasion, 
I am very proud of the success which has attended our 
undertaking, and reckon amongst the first honors of my life 
the confidence which my fellow-soldiers have reposed in me. 

With the close of this meeting I transfer the command of 
the Michigan Commandery to that knightly Michigan soldier 
and chivalric gentleman, General Russell A. Alger, "on 
whose bright plume of fame not a spot of the dark is." His 
unanimous election this evening betokens a continuance of 
the wonderful harmony that has prevailed amongst us from 
the first. With him to lead us we are sure to increase in 
numbers, and, as an Order, in the estimation of our fellow- 
citizens. 

I say then, with an overflowing heart, long life and 
presperity to the Michigan Commandery of the Loyal Legion, 
and beg the company to rise and join me in three hearty 
cheers for the commander elect. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



At the Annual Banquet of the Michigan Commandery 

of the Loyal Legion, at Hotel Cadillac, Detroit, 

Mich., May i, 1889. 



By COMPANION BYRON R. PIERCE, 
Brevet Major General, U. S. V., Senior Vice-Commander. 



Companions and Friends: 

If I had words or wit I could not be eloquent at this time; 
if I can only hold the front line steady and firm and render 
possible a right royal good time at this banquet I shall be 
satisfied. 

My position this evening is made by the unaccountable 
absence for several months of our commander, which yet 
remains clouded in mystery, a brave soldier, whose service 
was of that earnest, enthusiastic character which entitles him 
to our grateful and lasting remembrance. 

Occasions like this speak to us of memories measured by 
years, recalling old associations, renewing that patriotic 
feeling that bound us together, always remembering the 
brave who stood by our side, in which are emotions that will 
never die. Woe to us and to those who come after us when 
those battle fields are forgotten, or when we feel called upon 
to apologize for maintaining with stout heart and a victorious 



16 

hand, the promise, the integrity, the permanence of the 
American Republic. 

The members of a society like this, based on the friendship 
and associations of army life, to whom the four years spent 
in fighting for union and freedom, whose dangers were 
bravely met, and victories nobly won, is the most interesting 
period of our lives. The links that bind us were welded 
when we stood as comrades on hallowed ground, fighting for 
the eternal right ; hallowed by the red laurel of war, but now 
mantled with the tender grass and sweetest flowers. 

But who among us would not endure the same hardships 
of war for such a result ? 

As I look around and see the heroes here, I know there is 
not one man who would not freely give his life to engage 
again in the great work that was accomplished. 

Our cause was right, and may we ever continue to look 
treason steady in the eye and call it crime. 

With the advancing years we realize every season gathers 
many of our members, and amid the joyous festivities of this 
evening we would pause to pay a tribute to the memory of 
those of our Order who have crossed the river during the 
year. Those of us that remain find our locks whitening and our 
joints stiffening. We shall soon pitch our tents beyond the 
valley, amid the shadows of the dim unknown, but over all 
and forever may that starry banner, whose folds are embla- 
zoned with the proudest victories ever won, continually wave 
as the ensign of a re-united Republic. 



INTRODUCTORY 



At the Annual Banquet of the Michigan Commandery 

of the Loyal Legion, at the Russell House, 

Detroit, Mich., May ist, 1890. 



By COMPANION FREDERIC W. SWIFT, 
Brevet Brigadier General, U. S. V., Commander. 



Companions : 

One more year lias rolled away. We have made one 
more march toward the "eternal camping ground" and 
to-night we sit again around the festive board, and gaze into 
each other's eyes, and grasp each other by the hand and note 
the changes time has made since the days of old, and pledge 
each other that loyalty and companionship which none but 
those who have stood shoulder to shoulder in fierce combat 
can ever know. 

Time has dealt kindly with us during the year past, and 
yet we have not fully escaped its ravages. 

Five of our companions have been dropped from our roll 
of honor, and have gone into bivouac with the great 
majority. 

The kind-hearted, fatherly Clitz, the genial Remick, the 
gallant and soldierly Tyler, the ever popular Bell and Vernor 
the courteous and warm-hearted will join us no more in our 



18 

camp fires. We miss their kind greetings and their cheery 
voices, and we look into each others faces and ask ourselves, 
Who next ? 

Twenty-one companions have been added to our member- 
ship, and three have been dropped from the rolls for 
non-payment of dues, leaving a net gain for the year of 
thirteen companions. 

I cannot help expressing regret at this slight growth of 
the Michigan Commandery, and my conviction that if every 
companion would but exert himself to promote the interests 
of the order as its objects deserve, the coming year would 
give us a membership of nearly double our present number. 

These objects are, as expressed in the constitution, "to 
cherish the memories and associations of the war waged in 
defence of the unity and indivisibility of the Republic. 
Strengthen the ties of fraternal fellowship formed by 
companionship in arms." * * "Enforce unqualified 
allegiance to the general government, protect the rights and 
liberties of American citizenship, and maintain national 
honor, union and independence." 

I hold, then, that it is a sacred duty of every companion 
of this order to use his best endeavors to interest all who are 
eligible to membership on all proper occasions and by all 
proper means to induce them to identify themselves with su 
and to assist us in carrying out its glorious and patriotic 
work. 

We should not forget that the Loyal Legion is the 
offspring, as it were, of the Society of the Cincinnati, formed at 
the close of the American Revolution and whose founders 
were Washington, Hamilton, Steuben, Knox, Green and 
Putnam, with many others of like fame and renown. 

Will you bear with me a few moments and go back 
to the cantonment of that little army at Newburg, on the 
Hudson? It is the spring of 1783. A general treaty of 
peace had been signed at Paris on the 20th of January. 



19 

On the 23d of March a French war vessel arrived at 
Philadelphia bringing the joyous news, and while, as Irving 
says, " sadness and despair prevailed among the Tories and 
refugees in New York, the officers in the patriotic camp were 
not without gloomy feelings at the thought of their approach- 
ing separation from each other. 

Eight years of dangers and hardships, shared in common 
and nobly sustained, had wedded their hearts together, and 
made it hard to rend them asunder. 

Prompted by such feelings, Gen. Knox, ever noted for 
generous impulses, suggested, as a mode of perpetuating the 
friendship thus formed, and keeping alive the brotherhood 
of the camp, the formation of a society composed of the 
officers of the army. The suggestion met with universal con- 
currence and with the hearty approbation of Washington. 
Meetings were held, at which the Baron Steuben, as senior 
officer presided. A plan was drafted by a committee 
composed of Generals Knox, Hand and Huntington and Capt. 
Shaw, and the society was organized at a meeting held on 
the 13th of May, at the Baron's quarters in the old Verplanck 
House, near Fishkill. By its formula the officers of the 
American army in the most solemn manner combined 
themselves into one society of friends, to endure as long as 
they should endure, or any of their male posterity, and in 
failure thereof, the collateral branches who might be judged 
worthy of becoming its supporters and members. 

In memory of the illustrious Roman, Lucius Quintius 
Cincinnatus, who retired from war to the peaceful duties 
of the citizen, it was to be called "The Society of the 
Cincinnati." 

****** * 

Individuals of the respective States distinguished for 
patriotism and talents might be admitted as honorary 
members for life, their numbers never to exceed a ratio of 



20 

one to four. The French ministers who had officiated at 
Philadelphia, and the French admirals, generals and colonels 
who had served in the United States, were to be presented 
with the insignia of the Order and invited to become members, 
and Washington was chosen unanimously to officiate as its 
president until the first general meeting to be held in May, 
1784." 

As the time approached when the first annual meeting 
was to be held, Washington saw with deep concern that a 
popular jealousy had been awakened concerning it, Judge 
Burke of South Carolina had denounced it in a pamphlet as 
"an attempt to elevate the military above the civil classes, 
and to institute an order of nobility." 

Irving says : "The Legislature of Massachusetts sounded 
an alarm that was re-echoed in Connecticut and prolonged 
from State to State. The whole Union was put on its guard 
against this effort to form a hereditary aristocracy out of the 
military chiefs and powerful families of the several States." 

******* 

"The society met at the appointed time and place, 
Washington presided, and by his sagacious counsels effected 
modifications in its constitution. The hereditary principle, 
and the power of electing honorary members were abolished, 
and it was reduced to the harmless but highly respectable 
footing on which it still exists. 

In notifying the French officers included in the society, of 
the changes which had taken place in its constitution, he 
expressed his ardent hopes that it would render permanent 
those friendships and connections which had happily taken 
root between the officers of the two nations. All clamors 
against the order now ceased. It became the rallying place 
for old comrades in arms, and Washington continued to 
preside over it until his death." 



21 

I am inclined to the opinion that Irving is in error as to 
the abolishing of the hereditary feature and honory member- 
ship at the first meeting. It is likely that Washington did 
recommend it, but Companion Mitchell in his able paper on 
the subject before the California Commandery in War Paper 
No. 2, says: 

" In the minds of the meeting at Philadelphia in May, 1784, 
already referred to, this matter was fully discussed, and it is 
recorded that General Washington in confidence introduced 
a report of a committee of Congress, that ' no person holding 
a hereditary title or order of nobility should be eligible to 
citizenship in the new State they were about to establish,' 
and declared that he knew that this was leveled 'at our 
institution,' and that our friends had prevented its passing 
into resolution till the result of this meeting should be" 
known, but that if we did not make it conformable to their 
sense of Republican principles we might expect every 
discouragement and even persecution from them and the 
States severally. 

''An attempt was made to propitiate the public sentiment 
and the society recommended to the State societies certain 
modifications of the institution, but as the assent of all the 
States was necessary to the change and that assent never 
being given, the society retains to-day the hereditary feature. 
The opposition seems soon to have died out, and as an 
indication of the estimation in which the society was held, 
when the time for its next general meeting came around it 
appears that the convention which adopted the Constitution 
of the United States was convened to meet in Philadelphia in 
May, 1787, with direct reference to the fact that the 
Cincinnati would meet there on the first Monday of the same 
month, and in order to give Washington an opportunity of 
presiding over both sittings." 

Curiously enough the order excited opposition in France 
as well as at home. Lafayette was proud to wear its 



22 

decoration, but the extreme and radical Mirabeau, the great 
agitator and Jacobin of the French Revolution, said, "In 
less than a century this institution, which draws a line of 
separation between the descendants of the Cincinnati and 
their fellow citizens will have caused so great an inequality 
that the country which now contains none but citizens 
perfectly equal in the eye of the Constitution and the law 
will consist altogether of two classes of men— politicians and 
plebians. This order, which America beholds with indiffer- 
ence, will, when consolidated by time, convert the children 
of our military chiefs into a disticnt, a privileged and a 
commanding race. Lying poets and fawning orators will 
prostitute their eloquence to confer the honors of an 
apotheosis on the parricides who will have enslaved their 
country. The rest of the citizens will be nothing but an 
obscure, spiritless, degraded and degenerate rabble, unworthy 
of regard and devoted to oppression." 

Senator Manderson in his report to the Senate, June 12, 
1888, says of the above: *'In the presence of the historic 
events that followed the birth of the order and the patriotic 
results that have come from all the great military associations 
that were called into being by the three great wars of the 
Republic, we can well afford to laugh at the fears expressed 
by the opponents of the Cincinnati and those of later days 
who have condemned the existence of kindred societies. 
The nation has nothing to fear from their teachings, and 
their aims are so noble and patriotic that good only can 
result from their maintainance." 

Companions, you all know of the origin of our noble 
order. How, after four years direful war the dark cloud had 
been lifted at Appomattox only to come down on the nation 
still darker, more appalling than ever, in the assassination of 
our beloved Lincoln. Three gentlemen who had served 
in the Union armies during the war, Lieutenant-Colonel 



23 

Mitchell, Lieutenant-Colonel Ze]l and Captain Keyser met on 
that sad and sorrowful morning of April 15, 1865, and 
determined to call a meeting of all the officers and ex-officers 
then in Philadelphia and express their honor of the act of 
assassination, and do whatever the necessities of that critical 
time might require. The meeting was called and was largely 
attended and steps were taken for the formation of the 
society, out of which grew the order known as the "Loyal 
Legion." 

Let us then strive to emulate the glorious example set us 
by our fathers. Let us seek to preserve what they fought 
to create, and what we fought to save. Year after year rolls 
by and we are a little grayer grown. " We incline more and 
more to the ease of the arm chair and the comfort of the fire 
side. We find ourselves dreaming of the days gone by as we 
sit and smoke our fragrant cigar or pipe, and see faces of our 
companions perhaps in the curling smoke, and a tear will fall 
now and then as we think of those who have gone before. 
Yet we have duties to perform although we are getting old, 
and we find our sons looking us "square in the eye," and 
their shoulders as broad as ours, and we feel that the mantle 
must soon fall upon them. Yet we can serve as the 
"Videttes of the Republic." We must still remain on the 
picket line and sound the alarm if need be. Has our beloved 
country no danger menacing her? Are our free schools 
unassailed? Is the right of voting as one choses safe and 
unmenaced \ Are there no demagogues ? Have we taught 
our sons to love the dear old flag which means so much to 
us? Have we taught them that it is better to die for liberty 
than to live as slaves \ Have we taught them to guard with 
jealous care that for which we fought to save % And our 
companions died to save ? I am full of hope for the future 
for I believe in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the 
United States. I believe in the glorious Republic for which 



24 

we gave the best of our days and the best of our endeavors. 
I believe in the permanency of its glorious principles and 
institutions. I believe in the loyalty of our sons who are 
soon to fill our places. I accord all the honor that time and 
history can give to those who fought under the starry flag 
that the Republic might endure. 

I drop a tear to the sacred memory of those who stood 
shoulder to shoulder with us and went down to death, 
sealing with their hearts' best blood their devotion to a 
country in peril. ' I seem to see them now on the bloody 
slopes of Antietam, on the storm rent heights of Fredericks- 
burg, of Lookout Mountain, of Kenesaw, of Spottsylvania, in 
the trenches of Vicksburg, of Atlanta, Petersburg, aye from 
an hundred other fierce fields of honor, as they enter the 
fearful strife turning for one long last fond look at their 
beloved Northland and their loved ones with a far away 
gleam in their eyes. I seem to hear them say, with a salute, 
as did the gladiators of old, "We who are about to die 
salute you." 

Then gather closer around our camp fire, companions. Let 
the glance of your eye be that of kindly greeting and of loyal 
comradeship. Let this festal night be one of a life time. 
Raise high the social glass and "let joy be unconfined," for 
the days that are left us are few. And may they be joyous. 
Let each heart say to its fellow : 

" Were't the last drop in the well, 
As I gasped upon the brink, 
Ere my fainting spirit fell, 

Tis to thee that I would drink. 

With that water, as this wine, 

The libation I would pour 
Should be — peace to thee and mine 

And a health to thee, Tom Moore." 



INTRODUCTORY. 



At Annual Banquet of the Michigan Commandery of 

the Loyal Legion, at the Russell House, 

Detroit, May 7, 1891. 



By I. C. SMITH, COMMANDER, 
Brevet Brigadier General. 



Companions of the Loyal Legion: 

We assemble here to-night to enjoy one of life's blessings, 
a sumptuous spread. To cement friendships formed by those 
who risked their lives in a common cause. To listen to those 
who are gifted in speech, and hear extolled the genius of our 
great captains, who led us on to victory. Also, to recount 
the gallant deeds of those who fell, that their memory may 
be an inspiration for generations to come. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

At Banquet of the Michigan Commandery of the 

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United 

States, at Detroit, May 5, 1892. 



BY COLONEL SAMUEL E. PITTMAN, COMMANDER. 



Thomas Carlyle says, " Whoever can speak * * 
becomes a power. * . * It matters not what rank he has, 
what revenues or garnitures, the requisite thing is that he 
have a tongue that others will listen to." And again he says, 
"A person making what we call 'set speeches' is not he an 
offense ? " Here is a dilemma. We must speak, but we must 
not prepare speeches ; however, he who now stands before 
this assemblage will not upon this occasion be an offender. 

Memory will carry some of us back to school days when 
it was the fashion to declaim weekly. We recited Mrs. 
Heman's then thrilling lines, "The Boy Stood on the Burn- 
ing Deck;" Byron's "There was a Sound of Revelry by 
Night," and later from Webster, Hayne, Chatham, Burke — 
looking forward to the time when we would electrify the 
world with our eloquence. Your present speaker has been 
looking forward ever since and at last the supreme moment 
seems to have arrived. Courtesy and duty, however, both 



27 

demand that opportunity shall be afforded the distinguished 
gentlemen whose names appear on the programme before you 
and they shall not be forstalled. Postponement, then, of 
electrifying from this quarter must be had. 

It may have been the practice of some of the retiring 
Commanders to deliver something in the nature of an annual 
message upon these occasions, and it were well, perhaps, to 
review the past and forecast the future briefly. Within the 
past eighteen months the Commandery has taken leave 
of the Merrill Block with its dust and rodents and is now 
happily domiciled under the roof of the Detroit Light 
Infantry, illustrating that two families can live harmoniously 
in the same house. We shall naturally point to our amiable 
tempers as the important factor in this instance, yet will 
admit that much of this commendable harmony is the 
product of the high soldiery and gentlemanly deportment of 
the Light Infantry. Expressing my own convictions and, as 
I believe, of the Commandery, it can be said that not a State 
military organization north, east, south or west can be named 
as superior to this tine body of young soldiers. 

The opportunity afforded by the Grand Army of the 
Republic encampment in August last, for the Michigan 
Commandery to extend its hospitality to such companions of 
the Loyal Legion as were in attendance, proved to be a rare 
boon to us. The particulars of the entertainment by our 
Commandery of such visitors and many others, have already 
been given in glowing sentences by Companion Swift on 
behalf of the several committees, and we need but say that 
the insignia and button of our order received fresh brilliancy 
from the interchange of fraternal godspeeds between 
members from every loyal State in the Union. 

Papers may not have been as numerous as in some former 
years but those we have had were so excellent they would go 
far towards making up for the limited number. Col- 
Ludlow's was the first. Col. Sterling closed up along gap 



28 

and Companion Sibley's historical sketch of the Society of 
the Cincinnati brought to light much of that society that 
many of us had never heard and sympathetically stimulated 
a larger interest in our own order. The Poe incident was 
equal to a "paper" evening, and thanks to its literary 
productions the event has taken an important place in our 
history for the past year. 

Companions — The call to "fall in" to perform our last 
duties to deceased companions has frequently sounded — too 
frequently, we are apt to say. You will readily recall 
their names : Leggett, Dodge, Lemon, Merrill, Burns, Hull, 
Osburne. All these have passed over the river, and in 
their memory let us for a moment pause. 

With these losses, however, our membership is larger than 
a year ago, yet recruiting from the participants in the rebel- 
lion war alone cannot last long at the best, and attention should 
be paid to adding membership to class 2. Companions of this 
class, which may be termed the inheritance class (and others 
eligible) are making their way into the ranks of represen- 
tative men and in due time it will rest upon them to keep 
prosperous the order their fathers loved so well. More of 
them should be with us now and acknowledge in the language 
of our Constitution: "First, a firm belief and trust in 
Almighty God, extolling Him under whose beneficent guid- 
ance the sovereignty and integrity of the Union have been 
maintained, the honor of the fiag vindicated, the blessings of 
civil liberty secured, established and enlarged. Second, true 
allegiance to the United States of America based upon para- 
mount respect for and fidelity to the National Constitution 
and laws, manifested by discountenancing whatever may tend 
to weaken loyalty, incite to insurrection, treason or rebellion, 
or impair in any manner the efficiency and permanency of 
our free institutions." 



29 

Members not residing in Detroit have in common witli all 
the proud consciousness of membership in this unique order, 
an organization that received its first inspiration upon the 
announcement of one of the greatest crimes ever committed ; 
an organization that adopted in its charter both acknowledge- 
ment of dependence upon Divine power and the highest 
loyalty to state and free institutions ; an organization that 
we believe will exist as long as a pulse of patriotism shall 
throb from an American heart. The opportunity for member- 
ship becomes a legacy to hand down to successors that no 
money can buy, no genius can obtain, but simply through 
the lines of inheritance. This is surely a grand possession, 
but looking at it from a practical standpoint, to such members 
the annual meeting and banquet sums up their annual divi- 
dends, therefore it has been the practice to concentrate most 
of our energies and finances upon the banquet. We would 
recommend that annual meetings be for the entire day, the 
forenoon for business, thus giving ample time for full 
discussion of any question ; the afternoon for a more free 
companionship between members assembling from different 
parts of the State, and the evening for the usual rollicking 
around the banquet table. At present candidates for the 
several offices are frequently voted for by members whom the 
candidate hardly knows, even by name, and in turn members 
know only by name the men they vote for. This, however, 
is not a suitable subject for long presentation upon such 
an occasion as this, yet worthy of consideration. 

A cordial greeting to our guests for the evening can ever 
go without saying, still should always be and is now 
extended. Upon many occasions our guests have been our 
soul stirrers, and to-night doubtless will prove to be no 
exception. 



30 

"We may now enjoy the pleasure of the passing hour, 
bidding adieu for a time to grave pursuits," recalling the 
poet's words slightly paraphrased : 

" The act of feeding as you understand, 
Is but a fraction of the work in hand. 
Its nobler half is that ethereal meat 
The papers call the intellectual treat. 
Songs, speeches, toasts around the festal board, 
Drowned in the juice the Legion men afford." 

(The Commander then read certain letters of regret, after 
which the regular order of toasts proceeded.) 



INTRODUCTORY. 



At Annual Banquet, Hotel Cadillac, Detroit, 
May 4, 1893. 



By WILLIAM H. W1THINGTON, 
Brevet Biigadier General U. S. V., Commander. 



The past year cannot be said to have been an eventful one 
in the history of the Michigan Commandery of the Loyal 
Legion. In former years there have been some important 
events, such as the National Encampment in Detroit of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, re-unions of some of the army 
societies, or trips away, to give the year especial mark. The 
year closing drops to its place in column with no such 
distinction. 

It was the cherished purpose of your retiring Commander 
to invite the Commandery to his home and hearth at Jackson 
for one of its meetings, but the illness of his wife, prolonged 
through a period of five months, compelled him reluctantly 
to forego this pleasure. The interest of the companions, 
however, has shown no signs of flagging. The attendance 
upon meetings has been large and remarkably uniform. 
Since the resumption of the meetings in October, the smallest 
number present at any meeting has been 30 and the largest 
40, and the average for the seven meetings (not including the 
present) has been a little over 35. 



32 

The year began with a total membership of 261. There 
have been added 24 companions and lost 8, leaving a total 
membership at the date of the last meeting of 273. Six 
companions have responded to the last call within the year, 
and have passed on to join the gallant spirits of the greater 
army. These are : Major N. B. Hall, of Jackson ; Lieuten- 
ant Chas. S. Draper, Saginaw; Lieutenant A. A. Thompson, 
Flint; Colonel James I. David, Grosse Isle; General B. F. 
Partridge, Bay City, and Captain Chase H. Dickinson, of 
Kalamazoo. It is notable that of all these companions not 
one was a resident of Detroit. 

The contributions to our records and incidents of the war 
have been increased within the year by the addition of seven 
papers. These papers have awakened and re awakened the 
thronging memories of the illustrious past. Its deeply 
graven experiences and thrilling scenes have a portraiture in 
the papers which have been read before the Commandery, of 
abiding interest to the members of the order and of great 
historic value. The Commandery is to be congratulated 
upon their possession, and upon the action taken at the last 
meeting to place these separate printed papers in a more 
compact and enduring form. The historic period of this age 
of our country's existence lies in the war for the Union, and the 
Loyal Legioner, of the original First Class, who would remind 
himself that he was once an embattled hero, and marched 
with those whose names are emblazoned high on the scroll of 
enduring fame, must naturally turn and return to this page 
of his life. If it becomes a habit, who shall gainsay it or 
question a just pride in such recurrency ? Certainly none but 
ourselves. Possibly it might be wise for us to question how 
far and how wholly the papers at our meetings should be 
confined to the past, glorious as it was. To the end of 
adding, while the veterans are still living, valuable facts and 
incidents from the personal knowledge and experience of the 



33 

writers, these summonings of the past should go on. As a 
period overflowing with examples of heroic deeds, and full 
of inspiration to noble, self-sacrificing patriotism, it can be 
drawn on indefinitely by tongue and pen. No danger of 
going too far under these motives. The only danger in this 
direction, to the soldier himself, lies, to my mind, in accept- 
ing the past as the all, and in resting upon it ; in regarding 
his services in the war as fulfilling all demands upon him for 
heroism and high achievement. No habit or attitude of 
mind which tends to satisfy a -man with what he has already 
done in life, to lull ambition and benumb effort is good for 
his mental or moral health. I do not think the members of 
the Loyal Legion stand much in need of preaching upon this 
head, but we have all of us seen soldiers to whom it might 
possibly be profitably applied. We have seen soldiers who 
proclaim that their deeds in the army were an all-sufficient 
discharge of any obligation to further public service or 
personal effort. We have seen soldiers upon whom the 
youth of to-day must look and wonder how they could have 
been heroes, and yet they were. The default is that they 
did not keep on so being ; that they failed to realize that 
they owed something, more to themselves though they owed 
nothing more to their country. We may know of a soldier's 
bravery and understand his shortcomings, but to impress the 
citizen of to-day with a just sense of his service in the war 
the veteran must be something as well as have done some- 
thing. With the citizen the quality of soldiership in 1861-65 
is measured by the quality of 'citizenship in 1870-90. 

The Loyal Legion brands its members as high types of 
soldiers, citizens and patriots. The brand is really valuable 
only so far as the member lives up to it. He owes it to the 
order to live up to it, and he owes it to himself not simply to 
live upon his record but to live up to its standard. There is 
a vast difference in the two. The one means stagnation, the 



34 

other continued activity, continued effort, continued zeal, 
continued interest in the affairs of to-day, and participation 
in them so far as health and ability permit. This brings me 
back to the subject of the papers and to some consideration 
of the future of the Loyal Legion. There are reasons, I 
think, why there should be introduced into our meetings 
more of the "to-day." The plan of the Loyal Legion is 
that it shall be a continuing body. To this end membership 
is open to our sons. While, no doubt, they are interested in 
the war period and in the deeds of their fathers, it may be 
well for them and for us that our faces should not turn 
altogether backward ; that we should confront the life and 
and discuss the conditions of to-day. It is within the scope 
of our organization to do this. There is a broad field of 
discussion and action open to the Loyal Legion, and legiti- 
mately open. What are its objects? Let us look to the 
constitution for an authoritative statement of them. Article 
third of the constitution reads : "The objects of this order 
shall be to cherish the memories and associations of the war 
waged in the defense of the unity and indivisibility of the 
republic ; to strengthen the ties of fraternal fellowship and 
sympathy formed from companionship in arms ; to advance 
the best interests of the soldiers and sailors of the United 
States, especially those associated as members of this order, 
and to extend all possible relief to their widows and children ; 
to foster the cultivation of military and naval science ; to 
enforce unqualified allegiance to the general government ; to 
protect the rights and liberties of American citizenship, and 
to maintain honor, union and independence." Here is past, 
present and future committed to us. We are to "foster the 
cultivation of military and naval science." There are 
various ways in which this may be done, but Ave are not 
likely to do it at all unless we keep up our own interest 
in military and naval affairs, and not likely to do it 



85 

intelligently unless we keep in some measure informed of the 
changes and developments in these departments. Arms are 
changing, organizations are changing, tactics are changing, 
naval architecture and armaments are changing. In both 
arms of the service there seems to be continued progress in 
two opposite extremes, heavier ordnance on the one hand 
and quicker action and higher speed on the other. We have 
in this commandery both army and naval officers. There are 
officers of the regular army stationed here who could enter- 
tain and instruct us with papers or talks upon the changes 
taking place, and the probable results of these changes in 
coast defenses and field operations, and give ideas upon 
needed legislation on behalf of both the regular army and 
the State militia. Gen. Poe and Col. Ludlow have had long 
experience and great knowledge of lighthouse construction 
and service. If they would draw upon their experiences and 
knowledge for the benefit of the Loyal Legion we could 
become possessed of a great deal of valuable information and 
entertaining incident pertaining to lighthouse systems and 
service on the great lakes which envelop our State. Col. 
Ludlow, perhaps, could give us some interesting chapters 
from recent experience, if he would let himself be as funny 
as he could upon this subject. 

Another object is to "protect the rights and liberties of 
American citizenship." Here, indeed, is open a wide range 
for thought and discussion in which our youngest members 
may join, and perhaps contribute ideas which our older ones 
ought to hear, if they do not adopt. Of course, we cannot 
enter upon political questions in their narrower or party 
limits. But there are public questions upon which parties 
do not divide, and upon which the better sentiment of all 
parties is agreed, in their professions at least, which might 
be discussed here with profit and interest, Of these ques- 
tions there are Civil Service Reform, the Problem of 



36 

Municipal Government, Annexation of or Commercial Union 
with Canada, Pension Legislation, the Relations of Labor 
and Capital. All of these questions may be legitimately dis- 
cussed under the stated objects of the Order. In short, 
whatever tends to incite higher patriotism and cleaner and 
more intelligent citizenship may be brought into our 
meetings, whether it be the glorious deeds of the past or the 
animating thoughts and movements of the present. 

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln prompted the 
organization of the Loyal Legion. It was the thought of 
that well rounded citizen, soldier and statesman, the late 
commander-in-chief of the Order, that the founders of the 
Order were the first to raise a monument to Abraham Lincoln ; 
that there is devolved upon the Order the obligation to exalt 
and perpetuate the ideas which inspired Lincoln's life and 
hallowed his service to his country. These ideas, as General 
Hayes stated them, were, "Humanity, anxious solicitude for 
the welfare of all mankind, hatred of wrong to the humblest 
human being, our common brotherhood, sympathy with the 
oppressed and the suffering." If this thought of our late 
commander-in-chief is true, the Military Order of the Lo^al 
Legion is an organization with a mission as well as with a 
memory. 

Our Commandery at its last meeting took a step which is 
very important on its practical side, and very significant on 
its sentimental side. It voted to lease, for its future quarters^ 
the first floor of the building to be erected by Colonel Atkin- 
son on Congress street near Shelby. The new quarters are 
centrally located, will be easy of access, commodious, con- 
venient, and can be enjoyed undisturbed. That is the 
practical side. These quarters are to be taken and occupied 
in conjunction with the Detroit Post No. 384 Grand Army of 
the Republic. On this side there is a significance which I 
hail with entire pleasure. The absolute limitation of the 



37 

original first-class membership of the Loyal Legion to those 
who were commissioned officers of the army in the war is a 
feature in which I have never taken any personal satisfaction. 
It involves exclusions in which, I fancy, many of us have 
felt uncomfortable and unhappy. All of us know soldiers of 
the late war whose patriotism in enlisting, whose gallantry in 
the service, whose blood shed for their country, whose high 
character and distinguished citizenship make them peers of 
any man, yet they held no commission during the war. They 
were too young, were wounded too early in the service, were 
too inodest, had too little influence, or the ranks of their 
regiments were too depleted to enable them to reach a 
commission. We have felt that upon every test of gallantry, 
of manhood, of character, of intelligence, these men could be 
welcomed as worthy companions of the Loyal Legion. 

The organization of the Loyal Legion was peculiar. It 
was not the work of officers of the army. The founders of it 
did not seek or have the judgment of the officers in general. 
A small group of elegant gentlemen, with the most patriotic 
and zealous motives, gathered themselves together in the city 
of Philadelphia and founded the Loyal Legion, modeling it 
upon the Society of the Cincinnati. One State after another 
adopted the organization, ready made, as Philadelphia had 
prepared it. Whether it would have been differently 
planned or framed, had a general representation of the 
officers of the army been gathered at its foundation, it is 
difficult to say. Probably it would not have been essentially 
different then, even upon such larger concensus of opinion. 
If it was to be founded to-day, the limits of membership, in 
my judgment, would be an open question. Times are 
changing. The America of 1893 is not the America of 1783, 
when the Society of the Cincinnati was formed, or even the 
America of 1865. The city of Philadelphia, with its conserv- 
atism, its social exclusiveness and pride of ancestry, does not 



38 

epitomize the American nation. Two considerations would 
operate now upon the organization of such an order as onrs 
more than they did or conld in 1865. First, the demonstrated 
character and ability to reach and fill high social positions of 
many of the men who fought in the ranks of the Union Army. 
Second, the growing tendency of the times to make less of 
the distinction of rank and more of the man as he is. 

A revision of the constitution upon the matter of eligi- 
bility of members is a remote probability. Should it ever 
have consideration, the first question would be, where will 
you draw the line ? It does not seem to me so very difficult of 
answer. I would limit admission from the ranks to those 
who volunteered and enlisted without bounty of any kind, 
local, State or national. Under the unwritten laws of admis- 
sion, which apply to all, I do not think the order would be 
in danger of adulteration. 

Leaving, however, what is as yet an unmooted question, 
I return to the action of the Commandery which prompted 
these thoughts — the joint tenancy of our new quarters with 
a post of the Grand Army. 

Carlisle once said, in effect : 

The insight of genius is co-operation with the real tendencies 
of the world. 

A step which is in recognition of and which seeks 
fellowship with the larger brotherhood of a common service 
shows, I think, that the Michigan Commandery has some of 
this insight of genius and is in co-operation with the real 
tendencies of the world. We can say to the Detroit Post : 

"Comrades known in marches many, 
Comrades tried in dangers many, 
Comrades bound by memories many, 

Brothers evermore are we. 
Wounds or sickness may divide us, 
Marching orders may divide us, 
But, whatever fate betide us, 

Brothers of the heart are we. 



39 



'Comrades known by faith the clearest, 
Tried when death was near and nearest; 
Bound we are by ties the dearest, 
Brothers evermore to be. 
And, if spared and growing older, 
Shoulder still in line with shoulder, 
And with hearts no thrill the colder, 
Brothers ever we shall be. 

By communion of the banner, 
Battle-scarred but victor banner, 
By the baptism of the banner, 

Brothers of one church are we. 
Creed nor faction can divide us, 
Race nor language can divide us, 
Still, whatever fate betide us, 

Brothers of the heart are we." 



JUL 17 1905 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



012 196 584 7 



